


Someone Useful

by h_nb



Series: Brick [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: ...this isn't really whump ima be real, ..if you squint. just go with it. trust me, Accidents, Funny, Humor, No Actual Whump, Other, References to Torture, Shoplifting, Whumptober 2020, references to murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_nb/pseuds/h_nb
Summary: Whumptober Day 9: Alt Prompt 13 Accidents
Relationships: Brick (OC) & Aela Bazyli (OC)
Series: Brick [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948501
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Someone Useful

**Author's Note:**

> Aela is @highqualitynot's character and was written with her permission and help.

Brick stared at their computer, frustration growing by the minute. Through all their searching, all the information they could gather from former employees and information on the company's shady practice, there wasn't ever enough to form any kind of concrete case. Brick knew that most boomers hated technology and raged about it, but this guy, Otis Callahan, was relentless in his refusal to use technologies. The company had a barely functioning website, but beyond that the dude had no social media profiles, barely any press about him, and almost no information to be found available to the public.

That didn't stop Brick from finding photos leaking the dark corners of the web of corners of documents that exposed the way Callahan was stealing profits from the companies his business was insuring. Brick figured the guy must be orchestrating break-ins and fires somehow, for this to all work out in his favor, but without enough knowledge of this building and where the dude kept his stuff, Brick tipped their head against the wall of their van in frustration as another deep dive in the internet let to endless circles or complete dead ends.

It took them passing out on the floor for ten hours and then waking up to play Minecraft for four hours for the idea to come to them, but halfway through the energy drink in their hand they paused, eyes going wide as caffeine rushed to their brain. "Oh, shit." The game shut without their fingers touching any keys, and page after page pulled up on their browsers, running through every higher level employee they could find a social media profile for. Some went on a list for another time, some were discarded entirely because Brick didn't feel like getting information out of someone whose entire Instagram page was pictures of them golfing, and some just seemed plain boring. Brick felt their spurt of motivation deteriorating as they scrolled through all the dry social media profiles, already bored and annoyed at the thought of talking to any of them.

Then a furby caught their eye.

Brick paused, all other tabs disappeared to focus on this one person's page, the executive assistant to Callahan.

_Aela Bazyli | 19 | they/them | @wingedguitar | I paid more in federal income taxes than the president_

Brick surprised themself with a laugh, and continued to scroll through their page with a smile on their face. At least this person didn't look like they'd be boring as shit to talk to.

———

"This is a fucking dumb idea," Brick muttered to themself as they leaned against the wall of the boba tea shop, extending their mind out through the shop to where Aela Bazyli sat with their laptop and an iced tea. Brick flicked their fingers against the cement wall, and they knew that Aela's computer had crashed, unusable for the moment. They turned the corner and stepped into the shop, ears immediately drawn to Aela's groan of frustration as they stared at their glitching, seemingly busted computer. Voice sliding into unmistakable confusion, they paused, leaning over. "Oh shit, what happened to that thing?"

"I don't _know._ " Aela sounded upset and frustrated, seemingly barely concerned with the fact they were talking to a total stranger. "Stupid thing is busted again or something, this is so annoying."

"Oh, that sucks, yeah, I can get that." Brick gave a quick smile as they placed their hand on the back of Aela's computer, fixing everything they had just broken and then some. As the display cleared to the lock screen, Brick kept their hand on it for a few moments longer than they needed to, sifting through Aela's files for anything useful.

Aela's eyes widened as they let out a small laugh of relief, leaning back a bit in their chair. "Oh my god, thank you!" They leaned forward and logged into their computer, and though they didn't stand in view of the screen, Brick still felt through the hand on the back of the laptop as they checked a few files that were, to Brick's disappointment, completely useless for them. Then Aela stood, smiling at them, " You fixed it! Okay wait, wait what type of boba do you want?"

Brick smiled in slight bewilderment as Aela stood. "Huh, what for? I'm literally a technopath or whatever it was a fuckin' easy fix."

"As a thank you! You just saved my ass."

Brick shrugged their shoulders slightly and gave in, turning briefly to squint at the menu. "Alright... I dunno, haven't been here before. I guess, like that strawberry tea with the ones that pop? Yeah, those I guess."

Aela's nose wrinkled slightly. "You don't want... okay, weirdo." They stepped away toward the counter, leaving Brick alone at the table with their computer.

Brick stifled an incredulous laugh as they leaned against the table, keeping a hand on the computer as they dug deep into Aela's files for any trace of information that could be useful. There were a few things that Brick pulled to their phone, but it still wasn't enough, and Brick knew it wouldn't be enough until they could get into that building and into the office.

"Okay, here's your dumb not really boba tea." A moment later Aela had reappeared, holding a translucent pink drink in their hand. "But yeah, thanks for saving my computer! What's your name?" They sat back down, so Brick followed, sitting across from Aela at the cafe table.

"I'm Brick."

"Like... brick and mortar? You buildin' shit?"

Brick laughed loudly, shaking their head. "No, what the fuck? Just Brick."

"Ah, gotcha." Aela was laughing too, though their quieter laugh wasn't drawing nearly as much attention from the patrons around them. "I was always tempted to name myself a noun too but I kept my name because it's already weird enough. I'm Aela, by the way."

Brick nodded. "Yeah, I- yeah, neat."

As Brick continued to sit there, trying to figure out to make the jump from this to Callahan, Aela plunged ahead in conversation. "So, have you never ordered boba, or something?"

"Uh, I mean, I've never been to this place before. Either way, I don't really get boba that often, or like, ever." Brick looked down at the drink they had yet to drink, with its clear plastic covering and the wide plastic straw with the pointed end. They grinned a bit too sharply as they stabbed the plastic covering with the straw before lifting the drink up to take a sip.

"Is that why you didn't get the tapioca, then?"

Brick squinted at them from across the table. "What the fuck is tapioca."

"It's this!" Aela held up their own drink, shaking it slightly. "The black things at the bottom."

Brick wrinkled their nose. "Yeah, nah, I'll stick to these things that actually taste good, those look like they... don't taste good."

"Don't knock it 'till you try it!" Aela took a sip of their drink. Brick snorted derisively, but smiled nonetheless.

Their conversation carried easily from there, with Brick lying about or deflecting from almost every aspect of themself and learning nothing useful from the person sitting across from them. That didn't stop the conversation from being engaging or making them laugh, but Brick was finding nothing in their computer, having combed through everything twice by the time they had finished their drink and the conversation was winding down. Brick's face flickered briefly in a frown, stumped on where to go next. They stirred the ice in their drink as they half-listened to Aela speak, lost in thought.

"Hey." Aela poked their arm. "Hello?"

"Huh?" Brick started slightly, pulling their arm back across the table. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I was just saying we should exchange phone numbers! You're fun to talk to and all, and hey, if my computer breaks again I'd have someone to call."

Brick grinned in disbelief at how easy this was. This was way more fun than trying to talk up some boring middle-aged dude who's proudest achievement was competing in the local golf tournament. "Yeah, sure, here, just let me—" Aela already had their phone on the table, so Brick sent them a text without lifting a finger, sending their number to their phone. "There you go."

"Oh, okay! Sweet, that's convenient."

Brick grinned a bit wider. "Perks of tech powers 'n shit, I guess. Uh, catch you later, then?"

"Definitely!"

———

_aela: [image of a brick lying on the sidewalk] look it's u lmao_

_brick: lmaoo_

_brick: haha imagine using that brick to break the window of a cop car... haha jkjk,,, unless??_

_aela: if it wouldn't get me fired bet_

_brick: boo. tell me where the brick is and i'll get do it myself then_

_aela: fr??_

_brick: ...jk...unless?_

_————_

A week later, Brick was back at that same place, a different drink with weird black pearls at the bottom of it. Brick stared at Aela in lighthearted suspicion as they stabbed the cover again, trying the drink. Their face scrunched up. "It's alright," they said, putting the drink down. "Weird texture. Other stuff was better."

"You're hopeless," Aela groaned, burying their face in their hands briefly before sitting back up with a laugh.

Brick smiled, shrugging and taking another sip. "So how's work and shit?" They waited with raised eyebrows, hoping the subject change wasn't too jarring. They just needed information. That's all they were there for.

"Oh my god, it sucks, I hate my boss."

Brick couldn't hold back a laugh at the suddenness of it, nearly choking on their tea. "Oh, worm?"

"Yeah, he's the worst. He just... refuses to be a decent person. like for one thing, he's a conservative, which is fucking gross, and he's always misgendering me and talking about _golf_."

Brick grinned broadly. "Man, he sounds like he seriously fucking sucks."

"He does! He's a total douchebag, he thinks i don't know anything! but I control his entire schedule, I _know_ he cheats on his wife instead of staying late at work. I could ruin him easily but then I wouldn't have a job, y'know?"

Brick could barely keep their excitement contained. It wasn't anything about the fraud, but it was definitely enough to ruin any good standing this asshole had for good. "Yeah, yeah, that makes sense, sucks, but like- wait, he cheats on his wife? How'd you find that one out?"

"Oh, I have so many receipts. Here." As if they had known each other for months instead of a week, Aela began exposing all the evidence they had on Callahan cheating on his wife. Brick took everything in, copying any information Aela had in their phone to their own, and laughing as Aela ranted about their frustrations and what they would do if they could expose this without losing their job, and Brick listened, making fun of this complete asshole along with them, and they left the place with a broader smile on their face than they had in a while and a promise to meet up and play Minecraft in a few days.

———

_aela: [attached tiktok link of aela playing an electric guitar] follow my tiktok already bitch_

_brick: i_

_brick: i am?? fuck off?_

_aela: and u didn't even tell me? smh my head give me ur handle or i'll block you_

_brick: you literally have no power here i am sending this text with my mind._

_brick: i'll message u on tiktok lmao_

———

"If it's a chain it's free reign..."

"And if it's Hobby Lobby, the world is your oyster, steal from them, they're homophobic," Brick finished, looking up at the ugly logo of the store in front of them. They looked at Aela, who smiled and nodded at them.

"Exactly."

They went through the store, Brick subtly disabling cameras as they went. They wandered through the crafts section, and Brick stole yarn and other supplies to donate to some shelters across the country. Aela picked their way through the section of blue lives matter garbage, snatching flags and stickers and and wall decors. Brick paused next to them, and muttered. "What're you stealing that for?"

Aela turned to them, a ferocious grin of determination on their face. "I'm gonna burn it."

"Holy fuck." Brick's eyes widened, and their face split into an identical grin. "I'm stealing some too. Arson party!" Brick kept their voice to a hushed whisper, grinning widely as they stole some of the stuff as well.

Minutes later, Brick pulled Aela to a back corner of the store and, when no one was looking, whispered "Hold on," and teleported them out of the store, twisting their bodies and the materials they had stolen into static for a moment while Brick moved them to a familiar point that was easy to access. They ended up in an alley, empty except for a dirty white van on one side, but Brick purposefully paid zero attention to that. Instead they turned to Aela, laughed both at the tight grip they still had on Brick's sleeve and the adrenaline pumping through them, causing their heart to beat fast. "Yes! Fuck Hobby Lobby!"

Aela let go of their sleeve, shaking themself. "It's so weird, every time, I dunno how you're used to it." Then they nodded, raising a fist in the air. "Yeah, fuck Hobby Lobby!"

"C'mon, I know a place we can burn this shit, let's go!" It occurred to Brick as they walked with Aela through the streets to a place they knew that this wasn't conductive to what they were trying to get from Aela at all, they hadn't talked about their work once or learned anything new. But... Brick didn't really give a fuck. Stealing from Hobby Lobby was fun as hell, and even more fun when someone was with them.

"Do you come here to burn stuff often?" They had arrived at an old junkyard, one that had been abandoned for years at this point.

Brick nodded, pulling out a container of gasoline that looked just as empty as the rest of the place, but they threw their stolen goods on the already-scorched ground in a pile and poured gasoline over it. "Yep. Regular old arsonist, that's me."

Aela laughed, and only threw their stuff on top of the pile. "That's so fucking great! We should hit up more of these places. Steal their entire stock of this shit."

Brick chuckled as they poured more gas onto the pile. "Could make a name for ourselves. The Hobby Lobby burglars."

"Yes!" Aela jumped in the air, nodding emphatically. "Yes, fuck yeah!"

Brick looked to Aela with a raised eyebrow, pulling a matchbook out of their pocket. "Say sike right now, would you actually?"

"Steal from them, they're homophobic, what more do you need?" Brick shrugged at that, unable to come up with any kind of response that didn't reveal information that could get the cops called on them, and lit the match. They flicked that, and a few more, onto the pile, and took a few steps back as the flames slowly caught on the material and took hold, soon sending the pile into a steady inferno.

Aela's shoulder bumped against Brick's. "Not bad," they said, smiling at the burning flames in front of them.

Brick couldn't help but agree.

———

_brick: [picture of the inside of the van, specifically the back side of the drivers seat, which is covered completely in layered string worms] im not saying im considering doing this to the rest of my van but also i very much am_

_aela: holy shit._

_brick: also i like. commissioned someone to make me a curtain of these things on etsy idk where im gonna hang it yet but i need it fuck the fact that i have almost no money i need da worms_

_aela: da worms are a necessity, much like food and shelter, worms are also on that survival level or however that needs thing goes._

_brick: obviously, what else do u need in life?_

———

"One more, come on, we're almost done!"

"Brick." Aela dragged out their name, leaning against the side of the couch. "If we watch another one I'm gonna be too tired for work tomorrow, I'll have to call in."

"So do it!" Brick shook their head. "Call it a self care day, or whatever. The place isn't going to like, fall apart if you're not there for a day, so just call off already, what're they gonna do? You're the best fucking employee there, you can take a day."

"Yeah..." Aela rolled their eyes, looking over at Brick as they pulled out their phone. " _Fine,_ okay, I'm calling off tomorrow. I'll fake a sick day or a doctor's appointment, or whatever."

Brick laughed, nodding encouragingly. "Yeah, come on, lets finish these movies."

"If I fall asleep during this I'm blaming you."

Two hours later, Brick looked over as the credits rolled, and smiled in relief. Aela was passed out, leaning against the side of the couch with her eyes shut. Brick lifted the blanket off them and stood, carefully watching to make sure Aela wasn't going to wake. As soon as they were certain, Brick crept to their work bag, pulling out their key ring. They looked at it for a moment, the string worm that dangled from it making them smile. Brick teleported out of the apartment and onto the street, walking a few blocks to a locksmith that was open 24 hours. They hung around in the shop while they waited for the locksmith to duplicate the four keys Aela had, whatever they were for, Brick would figure that out when they needed to, once they were at Callahan's office door and trying out each key.

Afterward they popped back in, putting the original key ring back. They looked over at Aela, and for a brief moment, considered moving them to their bed, or waking them up, or something. They considered other things, too, fleeting moments they knew they weren't going to pursue. Then that moment passed, and they teleported back to their van, most thoughts on what they were finally going to be able to do tomorrow, and a few flitting thoughts on what they were going to have to leave behind.

———

Brick had gotten all the notifications, but didn't answer to any texts until the cameras were shut off, the body disposed of, and the space cleaned up. It was only as they were shoving the folded tarp into the bottom storage space in their van that they fully read through the texts Aela had sent them throughout the day.

_aela: you just left?? and left me sleeping on the couch all night? rude af_

_aela: god damn my neck hurts and im blaming you_

_aela: did you make it though the last movie bc i know i didn't_

Brick shut the lid of the storage space, and clambered into the front seat of their van.

_aela: what are you sleeping or something? still?? answer mee_

_aela: oh loll apparently my boss didn't show up today looks like it was a self care day for everyone_

Brick started the van, and started to drive. Staying in the city was a dangerous move while they looked for and inevitably found what was left of Callahan's body. They had to dip, and that just left the perfect excuse for them to cut Aela out, anyways. Callahan was done with, everyone in line to replace him was a decent, if not far better, choice for the company. Brick had no reason to talk to them anymore.

Brick drove in silence for hours, turning those thoughts over in their mind.

_aela: ok but when u check ur damn phone we should play among us some more_

_aela: holy shit i just found string worm earrings on etsy haha what if we got matching pairs lmaooo i'll buy them broke ass_

They didn't want to stop talking to Aela. They were harmless, aside from their ties to Callahan, and they were funny, fun to talk to, and Brick couldn't remember the last time they had laughed so much with someone.

They drove until they needed to get gas, so they stopped and got some, also geting three energy drinks and enough food to keep them going.

They reread the texts, frowning, indecisive in a way they hadn't been in a long time. They blamed the quickness of their heart on the two cans of Bang they had just chugged.

Brick continued to drive until they were too exhausted to, so they parked their van somewhere they wouldn't be bothered and sluggishly moved their way to the back of the van, crashing on the floor. By the time they woke up, the sun was setting, and they still hadn't responded to any of Aela's texts.

_aela: dude are you fucking dead or something? there's no way you've been sleeping for that long, cmonn_

Brick sat up slowly, leaning against the side of the van while they worked on waking up. They opened their phone, looking at the texts and scrolling back through them again.

There was no harm in keeping in contact with them, at least for now. And besides, if a problem did occur, Brick would just kill them. Easiest solution. Kill them and forget about it and move on.

_brick: sorry i was driving and also passing out but im gucci now_

_aela: !_

_aela: driving? where to?_

_brick: area 51. im going to go fuck an alien_

_aela: old meme. boomer._

_brick: i will turn this car around so help me god. why would u say that. what the fuck_

_aela: bet. come back i wanna hang out_

_brick: ill send u a pic once im inside the base_

Brick smiled effortlessly, a lightness in their chest as they continued texting Aela. They didn't want to have to kill them. So they just hoped, with the little hope they still possessed for themself, that it would never have to come to that.

But they also knew that if Aela tried to fuck things up for them there would be only the slightest bit of reluctance before they slit Aela's throat.

**Author's Note:**

> it's. it's accidents like. brick accidentally got more attached to aela than they wanted to. it's a stretch i know. i did my best. pls.


End file.
